‘It was a nightmare’: Birmingham woman on first flight to West Midlands from Dubai now ‘shaken’ by ‘any little bit of noise’

Pamela Chamber, 36, said she had flown out from Birmingham Airport to Dubai on Thursday 26 February with her husband and had left her children. She was meant to come back on a flight on Tuesday 3 March but it was cancelled.

She said as she fought back tears: “I left my children just to go away for a few days and I can’t wait to go and get them now. So I am rushing out to go and get my kids."

When asked about the situation in Dubai, Mrs Chamber said: “It was a nightmare being there but it was safe. It was safe on the ground.

"Sleeping and waking up to blasts from the interceptions, obviously it was a good thing, but at the same time any little bit of noise shakes us now, so there is the aftermath."

The flight from Dubai to Birmingham was due to land at 11:40am but it finally landed at 12:53am. Mrs Chambers said that everything was "calm and good" on the flight "after about an hour" into the journey "when we knew were out of that airspace".

She added: "As soon as we landed everyone clapped. It is such a relief to be home.”

The passengers on the flight arriving at Birmingham Airport today are some of the lucky ones as travel to and from the region is still restricted. Flights to gulf and connecting flights to India are still cancelled.

In its latest update today, Emirates says: "All scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 2359hrs UAE time on 7 March, due to airspace closures across the region. We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority on these limited flights. 

"Customers transiting in Dubai will only be accepted for travel if their connecting flight is operating. Please do not go to the airport unless you have been notified directly by Emirates or hold a confirmed booking for these flights.

"Emirates continues to monitor the situation, and we will develop our operational schedule accordingly. The latest flight updates will be published on our website."

An Emirates flight to Dubai from Birmingham Airport also took off today. It was scheduled to depart at 13:40pm but it eventually left more than an hour later at 14:56pm. Emirates has also operated limited flights to other airports in the UK including Edinburgh, London Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.

Elsewhere, the first government flight is going to leave Oman on Wednesday evening as the government scrambles to evacuate citizens from the region. The Foreign Office said the flight will depart the country’s capital, Muscat, at 7pm and is available for British nationals, their partners and children under 18 with a valid travel document.